Holland and Luxemburg
Holland
Delft, a town between the Hague and Rotterdam, was celebrated for its earthenware at a very early period. The exact date of its commencement is not known, but there is a record of a certain Herman Pietersz, a fayence maker, being married in 1584, consequently pottery was being made in the town towards the end of the 16th century. At this period the decorated Dutch pottery showed Italian influence in its design, and it is recorded that a painter on pottery named Vroom studied his art in Italy.
After the middle of the 17th century the industry increased rapidly, and reached its greatest prosperity about 1680, when there were about thirty different factories, and the ware was decorated by highly skilled artists. No one was allowed to establish a factory unless he had obtained a licence from the Guild of St. Luc.
To this period belong famous potters, such as P. J. Van Kessel of “The Metal Pot”; Abram de Kooge of “The Old Moor’s Head,” who decorated landscapes in blue camaïeu; and Albrecht de Keizer, with his two sons-in-law, Jacob and Adrian Pynaker, of “The Three Porcelain Bottles,” who were the first to imitate oriental porcelain. Other potters of note at this time were the Eenhorns, father and two sons, the Kleftyns, and the five Kams.
By the middle of the 18th century, owing to the competition of English pottery, the Delft industry was already on the wane. In 1780 the factories were reduced to one half their former number, and by 1808 only seven existed. All these gradually succumbed, and now only one factory, “The Old Porcelain Bottle,” remains.
The forms of the Delft ware are very varied; among other curious efforts the potters produced musical instruments. There are four fayence violins extant, all painted in blue camaïeu, with figures in Dutch costume of the 17th century, dancing and singing, musicians and kermess scenes, in the manner of Gerard Lairesse, with cupids and Renaissance ornaments as borders.
The decorated pieces of Ter Himpelen, although rarely signed, are much prized; he painted fairs and marine subjects on square plaques, about the year 1650. So also are those of Piet Viseer, a celebrated colourist, who flourished about 1750; and of Van Domelaar, who painted Chinese landscapes, &c., about 1580.
Fig. 99, a cruche, is painted in blue camaïeu, with a musical party, in the costume of about 1670.
Fig. 100, a teapot, is painted in polychrome with Chinese landscapes and flowers on a black ground. It has the mark of Louwys Fictoor. Late 17th or early 18th century.
Fig. 101, a vase, is painted in blue with flowers, in imitation of a Chinese type. The mark of Ghisbrecht Lambrechtse Kruyk. Later half of 17th century.
Fig. 102, a plate painted with figures in blue, is one of a set of twelve representing the tobacco industry.
Utrecht. There was a manufactory of tiles here, founded in 1760; they were decorated in blue or violet, en camaïeu, in imitation of Delft; the manufactory was closed in 1855.
Amsterdam. A German Jew of Breslau, named Hartog, known as Hartog Van Laun, and another, named Brandeis, established a manufactory of fayence near the gate of Weesp, at Amsterdam. The ware is heavy, not very artistic, and usually in blue camaïeu. Fig. 103, a fruit dish, is painted in blue, with a man and woman seated.
Overtoom. A manufactory of fine fayence was established in 1754, in the parish of Amstelveen, near Amsterdam; it lasted ten years. The Barons Van Haeren and Van Palland were the proprietors, and Ariel Blankers was the director. The fayence, though heavy, was of a fine white enamel and of good forms; besides table and tea services, groups of birds, modelled from nature, statuettes, &c., were made.